


Knight in shining armour

by RiTheBiGuy_RileyTMR



Category: The Good Doctor (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-12 13:53:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29011581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiTheBiGuy_RileyTMR/pseuds/RiTheBiGuy_RileyTMR
Summary: When Neil finds Claire wandering around one night, completely drunk, he decides to help her out.
Relationships: Claire Browne/Neil Melendez
Comments: 5
Kudos: 22





	Knight in shining armour

Neil was driving home from the hospital after an emergency surgery when he noticed a young lady stumbling along the sidewalk, he didn’t think too much of it until a couple of guys she was walking past started to follow her. He could see they were saying things to her and as his car got closer he saw that they kept trying to touch her and had started to surround her, it made Neil feel incredibly uneasy, luckily it was the middle of the night and no other cars were around so he quickly pulled up just in front of her and got out. He walked over to the group of people.

”everything okay over here?” He asked, he couldn’t see the woman as one of the guys were standing in front of her.

”Yeah everything’s fine,” one of the guys said.

”Really? Because it looks like that lady there is incredibly drunk and you two are trying to take advantage of her,” Neil replied.

”Why don’t you mind your own business?” The other guy said in a threatening tone.

”Look guys, I don’t want any trouble, I’m sure you don’t either, so why don’t you just leave the young lady alone?” Neil bargained, he could see that the woman was sitting on the floor now, unaware of what was going on around her. The first guy stepped forwards trying to intimidate Neil but he didn’t budge, the second guy put an arm out in front of his friend.

“let’s just go man, this whores not worth it,” he said, his friend grunted before turning around and walking away, the second guy behind him. Neil quickly went over to the woman on the floor who was sat forward with her hair in front of her face.

”Miss? Are you okay?” He asked, he moved her hair out of her face and was shocked when he realised who it was, “Claire?” He said, she opened her eyes at the mention of his name.

”Dr Melendez!” She said loudly, “what are you doing here?” She asked, slurring her words.

”I was driving home when I noticed you were in trouble,” he replied, more relieved now that he had decided to stop and help.

”Aww that’s sweet, you’re my knight in shiny army,” she giggled. Neil helped her get to her feet and held her up.

”C’mon, let’s get you home,” he said to her, she suddenly bent forwards and threw up all over the pavement, he sighed as her held her up again, “on second thoughts you can stay at mine, I’m not leaving you alone in this state.”

”Ooh a sleepover,” she said, “how fun.”

”Yeah,” Neil grumbled as he sat Claire in the front seat of his car, he shut the door and walked around to the drivers side before getting in. As he drove Claire started mumbling random things to him, he wasn’t sure exactly what she was saying but he’s pretty sure it was something about bees, he laughed slightly at her drunken rambling, especially when she suddenly said something really loudly that was along the lines of ‘wasps can fuck off though.’

A few minutes later he pulled up outside of his house, he looked over to Claire who was now staring out of the window at nothing in particular. He got out of his car and walked the the other side, he opened the door and tried to help her stand up. She stumbled a little bit but eventually he managed to get her standing, he then walked her up to his front door where he grabbed his keys and opened it, they stepped through and he left her leaning against the wall so he could lock the door behind them. Claire suddenly sank to the floor and Neil could hear her snoring slightly.

“great,” he said out loud. He gave up on trying to get her to cooperate and walk, instead opting to just pick her up. He carried her into his bedroom and laid her on his bed, he carefully took the small purse that she had with her and put it on his bedside table before removing her shoes and leaving them on the floor next to the bed. He pulled the covers up over her slim body and left her there to sleep. He grabbed a blanket and pillow out of his closet and headed towards his couch, where he ended up staying for the night.

Claire’s head was pounding when she woke up the next morning, she ran one of her hands down her face as she used the other to try finding her phone. When her hand didn’t touch it she opened her eyes to look for it, that’s when she realised she wasn’t in her own bedroom.

”Crap,” she said quietly as she looked around at the rather nice room she was in. She noticed that her purse was on the bedside table next to her but she couldn’t find her phone when she looked in it, that was when she spotted it plugged in to charge on the other side of the room. She sighed in relief as she walked over to grab it. She also noticed a glass of water and a couple of painkillers next to it, whoever’s house she was in was really looking after her, which made her worry that it was some guy expecting more than casual sex. She took the pills before grabbing her stuff and heading out the door. She found a staircase and as she walked down it she found the she was standing in a kitchen, she then saw the man sitting at the island, who was drinking a coffee and ready a book, and she dropped all of her belongings. Neil looked up when he heard the sound, and smiled warmly at her.

”Good morning,” he said cheerily, “I was just about to come and wake you up, you have work in an hour,” she looked very confused as she tried to piece together what happened that night.

”Did we-“ she started to ask, but wasn’t sure if she wanted to finish the question.

”Sleep together?” He asked, she nodded slightly, “no,” he said simply and she released the breath that she hadn’t realised she was holding, “I slept over there,” he pointed to the couch which had a blanket and pillow laying on top of it.

“How did I get here?” She asked.

”I found you wondering the streets late last night, you’d managed to attract the attention of a couple of guys so I told them to leave you alone, in the state you were in I weren’t happy for you to be on your own so I brought you back here,” he explained, “any more questions?” Claire shook her head, “good, I’ll drive you home, otherwise we’ll both be late,” Claire followed Neil to his car, unsure of what to say to him, she was shocked that she went for a night out and woke up in her boss’s bed but was relieved that they hadn’t slept together, not that she would have minded too much, he was an attractive man and she had definitely had more than a few thoughts about him.

Neil dropped Claire off at her place before heading to work. Claire entered her apartment and had a quick shower, she then got dressed and headed out the door.

When she arrived at work the other residents were all there, discussing the newest cases with Neil and Marcus.

“Dr Browne, so nice of you to join us,” Marcus said as she sat down.

“Sorry Dr Andrews,” she replied, looking over at Neil who was smirking slightly.

“I have a big surgery today,” Marcus spoke as she settled down, “I’ll need the four of you with me for a piggy back transplant,” the residents all looked at each other in excitement, “we have two couples, Phil and Greg,” he placed some files on the table for them, “and Kyle and Julie,” he put two more files down, “Phil needs a new kidney, Greg offered to give him one but he isn’t a match, he is however for Julie, who also needs a kidney. Her husband Kyle wanted to give her his kidney, but he isn’t a match, however he is a match for Phil. So to put it simply, Phil gets Kyle’s kidney and Julie gets Greg’s, are you all following?” The residents nodded and he continued, “good, Dr Murphy, you’ll be assisting Dr Lim in the OR, she will be harvesting the kidney from Kyle, Dr Reznick, you’ll be with me, we will be harvesting the kidney from Greg. Dr Park you will be with a surgeon that we will be borrowing from a different hospital, his name is Dr Jackson, you will be removing Phil’s kidney and replacing it with Kyle’s. And Dr Browne you will be with Dr Melendez, you two will be removing Julie’s kidney and replacing it with Greg’s. Everybody clear on what’s happening?” The residents responded, Alex and Shaun leaving to find their attendings, Marcus and Morgan not too far behind them, leaving only Claire and Neil in the lounge.

“About last night-“ she started before Neil cut her off.

“I’m not going to mention anything to anyone,” he assured her and she sighed in relief, “just promise me something,” he said, she looked at him and raised her eyebrow, “please don’t do something like that again,” she opened her mouth to argue but he continued, “when I found you there were two guys harassing you, you were completely out of it and sitting on the floor, if I weren’t there who knows what would have happened,” Claire was surprised by the look of concern in his eyes.

“I won’t,” she promised, “thank you for helping me.”

“Anytime,” he replied before standing up, “now we should go see our patient.”

They walked into Julie’s room where they found a middle aged woman laying in the bed with a book.

“Mrs Gibson,” Neil said as they stepped up to the bed, “I’m Dr Melendez,” he held out his hand and she shook it, “this is Dr Browne,” Claire shook the woman’s hand, “we will be your surgeons today,” the woman looked at the two of them, before smiling.

“I’m glad,” she said and they could notice a slight southern accent, “you’re both very kind people, I can tell,” the two surgeons smiled before Neil spoke.

“I understand Dr Andrews has already spoken to you about the procedure,” the woman nodded, “well, I’m here to answer any more questions you may have, then Dr Browne here will perform some pre op checks before taking you to the OR.”

“Sounds good,” Julie said cheerily, “I don’t have any questions so check away.”

“That’s good to hear,” Neil said, “I’ll meet you down in the OR in a few minutes then,” he left the room leaving Claire to check on their patient.

“He’s cute,” Julie commented and Claire chuckled.

“Yeah we hear that a lot,” she looked over at his retreating back before turning her attention back to the patient.

“Are you two together?” She asked.

“No,” Claire replied quickly, “he’s my boss.”

“Really, I got the feeling that there was something more between you two,” Julie insisted.

“You got all that from 30 seconds with us?” She queried.

“It’s a gift,” the older lady replied, “I’m good at reading people, like right now I can tell you’re hungover and feeling embarrassed about something.”

“How did you-“ she started.

“Like I said, it’s a gift,” Julie cut her off, “so, drunken night gone wrong?” Claire snickered at this.

“You could say that,” she mumbled.

“C’mon then, lets hear all about it.”

“No, you don’t want to hear about my personal life,” Claire said but the woman insisted.

“There’s not much else to do,” she said. Claire sighed.

“Alright fine, I went out last night and woke up this morning in Dr Melendez’s bed,” she said and Julie made a noise that could only be described as a squeal.

“See I knew there was something there!”

“It wasn’t like that,” Claire argued, “he saw me staggering around drunk and took me back to his because he didn’t want me to be left alone,” she smiled fondly at this, “he put me in his bed and slept on the couch.”

“That’s so sweet,” Julie sighed, “he’s such a gentleman.”

“Yeah,” Claire found herself agreeing, “he even put my phone on to charge and left me some painkiller and water.”

“He obviously cares about you a lot,” Claire rolled her eyes when Julie said this.

“He was just looking out for me, he would have done it for anyone else,” she said.

“No, anyone else and he would have probably dropped them off at home, maybe made sure they were safe, possibly checked up on them in the morning, but to take you to his so he could keep an eye on you, that’s something else,” Claire stopped what she was doing as she thought about what Julie had just said, “see, you know I’m right,” Julie commented as she saw the look on Claire’s face.

“He’s just like that,” Claire argues, “he’s a caring guy.”

“Whatever you want to tell yourself sweetheart,” Julie responded, “but a guy like that is hard to find, I’d snatch him up quick before someone else does, that’s what I did with my darlin’ Kyle, we’ve been together for 15 years now.”

“It’s more complicated than that though,” Claire said, “he’s my boss, there are rules.”

“But you want to do it?” Julie asked and Claire realised that she had basically admitted feelings about her boss to a patient that she hadn’t even admitted to herself.

“Yes,” she said quietly, realisation dawning on her, “I guess I do,” Julie smiled at her.

“Well darlin’ You need to tell him that, who cares that he’s your boss, who cares about rules, there’ll be other bosses and other jobs, but this may be your only chance at love,” Julie said and Claire nodded slightly in thought before shaking her head.

“We’ve got to get you down to surgery,” she said suddenly and began to wheel the bed out of the room.

“Okay, just think about what I said,” Claire nodded.

“I will.”

Neil was washing his hand in the scrub room when Claire walked in, she started to wash her hands as well when he spoke to her.

“What took you guys so long?” He asked.

“Oh nothing,” Claire replied, “Julie was just giving me life advice.”

“Oh really?” He asked, “anything that might help me out?” Claire laughed at this.

“No nothing that would interest you,” she replied before grabbing a cloth and drying her hands. They walked into the OR, putting on the necessary clothing, and stood over their patient.

“Okay, Mrs Gibson,” Neil said, “We’re going to need you to count back from 10 for us,” the woman nodded and began to count, she was unconscious before she even got to 3. Neil took a scalpel from one of the nurses and began the procedure.

Many hours later, Neil walked into Julie’s room to see how she was doing.

“How’re you feeling?” He asked.

“Never better,” she replied sleepily, holding her thumb up slightly.

“That’s great,” he replied.

“How’s Kyle?” She asked.

“He’s doing well, he’s awake and is talking the ear off of my colleagues,” Julie laughed.

“That’s my Kyle,” she said, “he’s a sweetheart though,” she smiled fondly, “that resident of yours is lovely,” she said suddenly.

“Yes, she’s a remarkable doctor,” Neil replied.

“She’s beautiful as well,” she commented. Neil pretended he didn’t hear what she said.

“You’re labs are looking good so far, but we’ll be keeping a close eye on you over night,” he turned to leave when she spoke again.

“Do you like her?” She asked, Neil stopped, “I think you do,” Neil turned around and faced his patient.

“I think she’s amazing, I think she’s very kind hearted, I think she’s beautiful, I think she’s an amazing surgeon, but she is also my resident and I am her boss,” he said, Julie looked at him with kind eyes.

“You can’t let somebody else have her,” she said to him, “there’s something special with you two, I can tell,” Neil smiled slightly at her before turning and leaving the room.

“We’ve got a problem in here!” A nurse called out from Julie’s room, they rushed in to the rooms and noticed that Julie’s temperature was incredibly high and she looked to be in pain.

“Looks like the kidney is being rejected,” Neil said, “let’s get her to the OR,” they wheeled her out of the room and towards the OR. They scrubbed in as the nurses and anaesthesiologist got the patient ready. The opened her up and tried to work out the problem with her kidney, “we’re going to have to remove it,” Neil said.

“But that means she’ll have to go back on dialysis,” Claire replied.

“Right now that’s her only option, we’ll get her back on the transplant list and hope for a miracle,” he took out the kidney and began closing her up when the monitor started beeping.

“Her heart rates dropping!” Claire said.

“No! No, no, no!” He started giving her chest compressions as her heart stopped beating, “c’mon Julie, don’t do this to us,” Claire grabbed the defibrillator and put the pads on their patient before charging it up, Neil moved out of the way as she shouted. 

“Clear!” Julie’s body jolted but the monitor stayed the same.

“Try again,” Neil ordered. 

“Clear!” Claire shouted, the same thing happened again. They kept going, over and over again with no luck, “we’re gonna have to call it,” Claire sighed in defeat, looking up at Neil. He looked back down at her before looking the the clock. 

“Time of death, 17:42,” he said before leaving the room. Claire walked out as well and they both washed their hands in silence. They walked back through the hospital, heading to the residents lounge where they saw the rest of the doctors.

“How’s Julie?” Marcus asked, Neil just shook his head as Claire dropped onto the couch, the doctors all looked around sadly, Neil walked into his office and shut the door. The rest of the staff all left one by one, saying their goodbyes, until it was just Claire and Neil left. Claire stood up and walked over to his door, opening it and walking in.

“You okay?” She asked him. 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he replied sadly, “how’re you?”

“Well not as fine as you’re pretending to be,” she answered, “she was nice.” 

“I know, she started giving me life advice after the surgery,” he laughed, “she made some good points.” 

“She did,” Claire agreed, “so what advice did she give you?” Neil thought for a moment.

“How about we discuss this over a drink?l he asked. 

“Okay,” Claire smiled, “but I’m definitely not having as many as I did last night,” she laughed.

“Good, I don’t want to have to take care of you again,” he replied, standing up and grabbing his jacket. 

  
“I’m sure I wasn’t that bad” Claire said. 

  
“No, although you did shout something about how wasps can fuck off,” he told her. 

“What?” She asked.

“That’s what I was thinking,” Neil replied and they both laughed slightly. They headed to a bar nearby where they ordered their drinks. 

“After today, this is very much needed,” Claire said as she took a sip of her cocktail.

“Agreed,” Neil said, sipping his whiskey.

“So what did Julie say to you?” Claire asked.

“What did she say to you?” He asked back.

“I asked you first.” 

  
“I asked you second,” he tried, she gave him an unimpressed look and he smiled, “she was trying to set me up with you,” he stated, taking a swig of his drink. 

  
“Funny, that’s what she was talking to me about,” Claire replied. He looked at her and she smiled back, “I told her about last night and how you looked after me and she thought you were very caring.”

“She told me how lovely she thought you were, I told her how much more than that you are,” he said. 

“Oh yeah?” She asked.

“Yeah,” he replied, “I told her how kind you are,” He put his drink down and looked at her, “how beautiful you are,” Claire swallowed hard as he said this.

“She told me that I shouldn’t let my job get in the way of my happiness,” Claire said.

“And what would make you happy?” He asked, she looked into his eyes and he was staring back at her with an intensity he’d never seen before.

“This,” she replied, she leans forwards and captures his lips with hers, he lifts a hand and cradles her face as he kisses her back. The kiss didn’t last long but it was long enough to leave them wanting more.

  
“Do you want to head to somewhere where we can do this without getting caught by hospital staff?” He asked. 

“Where did you have in mind?”

“Well you started the day at my place, fancy ending it there as well?” Claire smirked at him and they both got up and left the bar where they spent the night together.


End file.
